Libraries at the Universities of Oslo and Bergen are establishing dedicated research support units to strengthen services for researchers. They face challenges including accessibility of diverse sources, long-term availability of content, and completeness of collections. Research is increasingly international, competitive, interdisciplinary and digital. Libraries aim to identify researcher needs and tailor services accordingly. Studies show researchers value efficiency but lack overview; libraries operate on a "deficit model". Libraries' annual plans focus on supporting international research through collections, competencies, dissemination and knowledge development. Their main challenge may be developing their own competencies for the future.

1. Libraries supporting research
communities – partners in scientific
communication
Eystein Gullbekk,
University og Oslo Library
Susanne Mikki,
University of Bergen Library
LILAC 2012, GLASGOW

2. Outline:
• The changing role of the library
– Are we facing a dilemma?
• Challenges
• Strategic work
• Knowledge based development
– The needs of researchers
• Libraries’ competencies?

3. A dilemma?
• Can we identify current tasks and challenges
faced by researchers and design tailored
services that meet the new needs?
Agents of change?
Or supply on demand?

4. We are challenged
• Accessability
• Durability
• Completeness
(Ball 2011)

5. We are challenged
• Accessability
– Multiplicity of sources
– Digital access
• Durability
– Who is responsible? Increasingly complex question
• Completeness
– Beyond a question of the local collections
– Overlaps: global accessability and intensified
communication

6. Challenging contextual factors of
research and research support
• International cooperation
– Prestige, rankings, publications, funding, co‐authorship and shared credits
• International competition
• Funding regimes
– Measurements, benchmarking, EU driven proposals
• Multidiciplinarity
– Areas rather than disciplines
• From print to digital publications
– Digitalisation, globalisation, critical evaluation
• Reduced gap between formal and informal scholarly communication
– Blurred line between products and processes
• Competencies
– social, personal , language, ICT, critical evaluation, administration

7. Formal Scholarly
Informal Scholarly Communication Communication
Knowledge creation
(Problem solving) Publication
Experiment
(Collecting statistics)
Verification/falsification
Hypothesis
Idea
Desire for knowledge
(formulation of questions) (Ball 2011)

8. Dissemination Media
• The Research Council of Norway: Open Access to
results as condition for funding
• Blogs
– http://www.hmml.org/news10/Blogs.htm
– http://hmmlorientalia.wordpress.com/
• Social media (Facebook, academia.edu,
mendeley, zotero)
• Preprint (Institutional repositories)
• Primary data etc. (arXive, RePEc, GenBank, SSB…)

9. Competencies:
as addressed in the UiO project
”Quality in Ph.d.‐programmes”
Possible generic components?
– Presenting your project
– Researchers and the information society
– Adding knowledge in a globalised research community
– The efficient researcher
Hyllseth, 2012

11. Challenging contextual factors of
research and research support
• International cooperation
– Prestige, rankings, publications, funding, co‐authorship and shared credits
• International competition
• Funding regimes
– Measurements, benchmarking, EU driven proposals
• Multidiciplinarity
– Areas rather than disciplines
• From print to digital publications
– Digitalisation, globalisation, critical evaluation
• Reduced gap between formal and informal scholarly communication
– Blurred line between products and processes
• Competencies
– social, personal , language, ICT, critical evaluation, administration

12. • The Universities of Oslo and Bergen Libraries:
currently establishing dedicated units and
functions in order to strengthen our research
support
• Collaborative and knowledge based process

13. Policy (stakeholders)
“Cutting‐edge international research will be supported through strategic
investments and cooperation related to research infrastructure.”
(University of Oslo Strategy 2010)
”UoO depends on researchers and research groups winning prestigious
awards and quality based funding” (University of Oslo Annual Plan 2012 –
2014, our translation)
”UoO will develop support functions and offer the professional development
needed in order to support canididates suceed on these arenas”
(University of Oslo Annual Plan 2012 – 2014, our translation)

14. Policy and stakeholders cont.
“The university's success in achieving international recognition must be
demonstrated by achieving good results in recognised rankings, publishing
extensively in respected fora, winning funding in international research
programmes and ensuring that its researchers and students are attractive
participants in international research and educational partnerships.
The following priority areas will help achieve this main objective:
• encouraging international publishing through good support and information
services
• continuing to develop the University Library as an infrastructure for
research, and gaining
• more funding for scientific equipment and other research infrastructure
(University of Bergen Strategy 2011 – 2015)

15. Information Management for
Knowledge Creation
(2010 – 2013)
• Literature review
– 55 studies selected and
reviewed
• Qualitative research
– 3 focus group interviews
(21 PhD‐students)
– 2 focus group interviews
(15 supervisors)

16. Selected findings
• Need for efficiency
– Self‐sufficiency : a strong norm
– Time management: signals self‐sufficiency
– Use of information rescourses should help increase the
efficiency
• PhD canditates use of information services
– Habits established prior to PhD work – base for further
learning
• Perception of skills
– High self confidence, but insecurity related to gaining
an overview
– Libraries and librarians: operate according to a ”deficit
model”

17. Selected findings II
• Publishing
– Diciplin based variation:
formal requirements vs informal pressures
– Random supervision

18. Selected findings III
• Reported critria for successfull supervision (libraries)
– Integration of Information literacy with other
research skills
– Make visible the complexities involved in
information searches
– Address multidiciplinarity
– Tailored services
– Market services better
– Strenghten knowledge about research processes

19. Our libraries Annual Plans (2012‐2014)
Provide collections and services that enables us
to actively support UoO’s position as an
international leading research institution
– Internationalisation
– Competencies
– Dissemination
– Impact
– Knowledge based development

20. Main challenge?
… could very well be our own competencies
– the dilemma
– Identifying needs for the future / recruitment
– Changing organisation